China: American pop star tour dates cancelled

27 April 2016

Chinese authorities have allegedly banned US pop star Selena Gomez from performing two dates in the country on her Revival Tour due to photos of her with the Dalai Lama posted on her social media profiles in 2014, reported The New Zealand Herald on 20 April 2016.

The singer was set to play in Guangzhou and Shanghai on 6 and 8 August, respectively, but those dates have since been removed from her official website. Further, the photos showing her with the Dalai Lama have also been removed from her social media profiles, reported DNA India on 24 April 2016.

The photos were taken at a 2014 event in Vancouver, Canada when both she and the Tibetan monk were hosting We Day in support of a youth empowerment project that is undertaken throughout the US and Canada, reported online city blog Shanghaiist on 22 April 2016.

This is not the first time Chinese authorities have banned musicians from performing due to their ties with the Tibetan monk. In 2015 US rock band Bon Jovi was banned for performing a show in Taiwan in 2010 in front of a backdrop that pictured the Dalai Lama. Earlier that year, US pop group Maroon 5 was also banned allegedly because a band member tweeted a happy birthday message to the Dalai Lama. And in 2009 the British rock group Oasis was banned due to one of the member’s performance at a Free Tibet concert in New York City in 1997.